Barrio Bites Boston officially kicked off the season on October 15, 2012. I'm working over at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School in Hyde Park, and three kick-ass sessions have taken place. I won't go into the nitty-gritty of all three; suffice it to say, I'm just stoked to be back working with students in this capacity and writing on this new-fangled website (still a work-in-progress, but that's pretty apt for Barrio Bites and life itself . . . unless you're one of those people who feel like you've got it all figured out, in which case, bugger off).

I'm working with high school students as opposed to the middle school students I worked with in San Diego (big ups, KC Pumas!). I've got 7-10 kids coming right now and they're all awesome. Session 1 was just a get-to-know-you. Sessions 2 and 3 we started cooking and the kids created some tacos from scratch, which included their own school-made tortillas, a wicked chile de arbol salsa, and 2 different taco mixtures (tacos de hongos and tacos de rajas con tocino). These kids were on fire from day one.

Some basic info/observations from the first month:

Barrio Bites = collaboration, cooperation, community, culture. The culinary part is the vehicle that drives us towards CONNECTION. Cooking/food is such an awesome conduit to learn and develop as a human being. That's what I hope to do for these kids and myself.

Lessons are following a Grounded Research model - I'm letting the students dictate the foods we'll cook/experiment with from week to week. Yes, I modify and adapt based on available ingredients and nutritional value, but I want their buy in. That's why we started with tacos; 2 of the students the first day told me their favorite foods were tacos, so I took that and tweaked it to the point they learned something new, tried something ridiculously delicious, and expanded their definition of "taco". Win/win!

Their food vocabulary is limited, so I need to help build it. Education = expansion, and not merely regarding works of literature or math formulas. Two kids had never tried mushrooms before. Crazy, right?!?! But not really. (Quote of the class, so far: "I never tried mushrooms before, but they taste different than I thought. I thought they'd taste all vegetable-y. But they good.")

Upcoming meals will focus on the following favorite foods the students told me they loved to eat: fried shrimp, chicken and broccoli ziti, Haitian rice, west Indian food, shrimp scampi, burrito bowls. As you can see, kids have given me a basic outline. Now, we get to color outside the lines.

Class runs one hour from 4:40-5:30. REALLY want another 30 minutes, since I often end up cleaning. The kids do help, but to set up, cook from scratch, EAT, and clean up in an hour is a lot. Plus, I really want to take more time eating, so we can all take our time with the food prepared. And I want to institute "Roses and Thorns," so the students view the eating portion as a shared community experience where they can feel free to talk about the best part of their day/weekend (Rose) and the worst (Thorn). Building empathy amongst us all. A life skill for everybody, young and old.

Anyways, it's time to call it a night and go bake some Chocolate -Caramel-Lime Bread Pudding infused with Mystic Brewery's Descendent-Suffolk Dark Ale. Which I"ll probably end up eating by myself (I see visions of Ben Stiller at the end of Dodgeball). Cuz that's what mature adults do. I think. Rationalize the totally unacceptable. Let's see what happens.

Thanks so much for the support, Val! Please feel free to share with anyone you think might be interested in supporting Barrio Bites.

Reply

Vanessa V. Ruiz

11/17/2013 09:39:19 am

Amazing. So proud of all you do! Schmoo.

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Kristina

12/2/2013 01:31:01 am

Wow that's some inspiring stuff Brendan! What you do with Bario Bites really emphasizes what's important during the Holiday Season. I'm thankful for people like you. The people who do things to create another smile during the Holidays truly embody the Holiday Spirit. Congrats! Love you!

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Vinnie

12/2/2013 02:57:17 am

I am thankful for people like you and your family who walk-the-walk in addition to talking-the-talk! Like you, I am most thankful for being blessed with awesome family & friends. And, most of all I am thankful that a certain adventurous girl on the other side of the country seems to be so happy and thriving!

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Vinnie

1/22/2014 05:11:25 am

I had Goat at the Princess in Mexico......tastes like Chicken.
The food looks great and the kids are fantastic! Just please don't teach them to make Sharon's Chili! I've got a good recipe if you'd like!

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Zenaida (Moore) Jones

1/22/2014 11:53:51 pm

Mr. Ko and I were absolutely thrilled reading your blog and looking at the pictures. It's wonderful to see that you're still touching young lives through the art of cooking. We wish you, your family, and students much happiness and success in 2014!

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Brendan Liszanckie

3/4/2014 11:27:46 am

Thank you both so much! Sorry for the late reply. I wish you all nothing but the best as well. Keep fighting the good fight!